


The Prayer

by splendid_sun



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: AU - Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Fusion, Angst, Depressed Victor Nikiforov, Fighting, Hunters, Loneliness, Long-Haired Victor Nikiforov, M/M, Magic, Magical Creatures, Magical animal, Memory Alteration, POV Victor Nikiforov, Social Isolation, Time-manipulation, magical guns, remembering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-20 23:43:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14904413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/splendid_sun/pseuds/splendid_sun
Summary: It has been more than ten years since Victor last saw Yuuri. Now, the Kagamihara is swarming with beasts while hunters are dying one after another. Will anyone save them? And can Victor manage to save himself for this time?Based freely on Puella Magi Madoka Magica Wraith Arc.





	1. This Is Not a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone who opened up this fic. This is a fusion fic for Yuri on Ice/Puella Magica Madoka Magica Wraith Arc. However, I always try to write my fic in a way that (almost) anybody should be able to understand what is going on, that mean also non-Madoka fan. Just a quick brief about story setting since this will be not covered further. Victor is the CEO of a company where also Phichit and Otabek work. All of them are hunters, who use magic to hunt down the beasts (Wraiths in PMMM original). Yuri is also a hunter, but is not working in the same company. Some things like grief cubes or wraiths are renamed due to copyright and trolling of my creativity, but otherwise is the story pretty much similar. The story will be Victor-centric and will be centered on Wraith arc. Memories, inner POV as well as Kyuubey´s voice will be written in italics. I hope you stay with me till the end :)  
> Unfortunately, I don´t have a beta. However I always try my best to re-read my stories multiple times and remove any glaring mistakes. Thank you for understanding.

Victor slowly closed one of his eyes, focusing on the creature in front of him hidden behind a thick fog. The night air was full of their scent and he was surrounded by a black, deep darkness. Somewhere in the distance, the tower clock slowly started announcing the midnight. If Victor were a regular human, he wouldn´t care about strange scent filling out the air and he would probably be long asleep - maybe also dreaming side by side with someone close to his heart. But he was a hunter - and that meant his nights were filled with sneaking, fighting and killing. Sleep and cuddles now reminded more abstract concepts from some another, distant world.

_Gotcha._

His finger found the trigger and in a blitz, the fog disappeared as well as the creature within it. Victor´s trained eyes immediately noticed a movement by his right side and before another minute passed, multiple shoots were already sent in that direction. The beast howled quietly and vanished as well.

_Behind your back._

Unpleasant, almost childish voice pushed its way to his head and in the corner of his eyes Victor spotted the white fur.

_I know._

He turned on his heels, clapped his hands and only after the empty charger pinked on the ground lifted up his sight again. The fog started to fade and he noticed a four small triangles lying on the ground. Just now Victor allowed himself to breathe freely - even the air seemed clearer now. He stepped towards the triangles, lifted them and slowly enclosed one of them to his pale-shining Soul Gem. And just like hundreds times before, Victor watched the darkness dissipating while the weight of the Grief Triangle between his fingers started to grow gradually.

_You sure work hard today, Victor Nikiforov._

Victor knew whom did that voice belong, but refused to look in those pink eyes.

"I didn´t need your help. I can defeat the beasts by myself."

_It´s true you are a splendid hunter, nobody can deny that. It would be a true loss if you would end up like Otabek did._

Victor winced. Of course he knew about it, despite not hunting together with Phichit and Yuri. Everybody from the work had to attend the funeral, after all.

"Don´t worry, I know my limits. I fight, and always will fight for myself only. This is my battle."

_Yours.. or do you fight for **him** as well?_

 

Now Victor´s icy blue eyes finally darted onto that hated pink shadows. The animal didn´t respond, just tilted his head aside and flicked his ears one by one.

_You seem to be very religious. Always thinking about him, all the time. It´s remarkable._

Victor resisted the urge to touch the string wrapped around his hairs, the blue hidden in the silver. Instead, he brushed away the invisible dust from his coat and regained his composure. Even after all those years, he was still sensitive about Yuuri´s name called out from that filthy mouth.

"Even if I was.. it´s not like you believe me."

 _We don´t_ , replied the animal and turned its head to the opposite direction.

"But it wasn´t a dream. _This_ isn´t a dream. It happened."

Victor wasn´t sure who he was actually trying to convince this time. It seems pointless. Lots of things seemed pointless now, without him. Without.. Yuuri.

 

It has been more than 10 years since he last saw him.

_His Yuuri._

He couldn´t hear his voice anymore, nor see his beautiful smile and playful eyes full of love. There was no one to share his life or thoughts with. Just like during that night, he could only watch and do nothing.

Victor was the only one who remembered Yuuri and his sacrifice. Because of his love´s wish, witches no longer existed in this world and thus everyone who died in witch´s fangs was brought back to life. Phichit, Yuri, Otabek - all of them were present now, unified together in the endless war against beasts. And nobody - not even his parents - remembered Yuuri Katsuki. Victor ended up alone, left only with his poor, wrecked memory and dark-blue string in his hand. He kept it as a reminder, a proof that Yuuri existed once, that he was a living being just like him - even when nobody remembered who it was and what had he done for others.

Except - Victor never thought it was be _so_ tough. As years passed by and people around him kept coming and leaving, the world started to look somehow surreal in his eyes. He was trapped in endless circle of fighting and working. Only rarely he managed to get himself a bit of rest and even then he was haunted by nightmares and woke up sweaty and teary eyed. He even lost his time-manipulation magic and grew weaker every time the calendar on his work desk got changed. Victor wasn´t sure for how long he would last; but every time he ended up in a dirt, he lifted himself and got up again - for Yuuri, for the world and people he wanted to protect. After all, even when everything else seemed lost, hunters fighting for their single miracle always remained the last column of hope. At least.. that´s how it was supposed to be.

 

 _So are you sure you don´t want to join Phichit and Yuri?_ _Certainly they could use an ally,_ _now even more when Otabek is-_

Kyuubey´s voice again resonated in his mind and Victor realized he probably spaced out for a minute.

"Not now," he interrupted it quickly and started to look around, tossing the used Grief Triangle to the animal and gathered the rest of them from the cold ground.

Something seemed.. off.

Some unknown sharp light beamed up directly in front of him and Victor hissed, shadowing his eyes with his palm. There was it - in a close distance the fog started to form itself in strange shapes and strong smell against filled his nostrils.

_That´s the Giant Beast that killed Otabek! You should be careful and maybe call someone for help._

"Shut it," Victor almost growled while quickly summoning another one of his weapons. His magic took beast´s attention and the ugly creature slowly turned his head towards him. Victor grabbed a bazooka, crouched on his knees and put it to his right shoulder.

_Lend me your strength, Yuuri._

The loud shot echoed through the street and he closed his eyes firmly to protect them before the sharp flash.

 

 

It was quiet; almost too quiet, actually. Slowly, Victor opened up his eyes and stood up again, forcing himself not to cough from all that smoke.

_That was exceptional, Victor. What a power.. you destroyed the whole nest with a single blow!_

Victor didn´t mind Kyuubey running beside him, just moved his feet towards reflexively. Something shattered under his shoe.

_A glass? No.._

It was ice and Victor bit his lip, startled. Only very powerful beasts were able to use elements and this was a tangible proof that this creature can use at least _two_ of them: the wind and the water. He quickly started to look around itself only to be stopped by his own appearance. Really, a living Victor Nikiforov was staring at him, his perfect copy; even with his hair sticking at his cheeks reddened with exhaustion and his worn-out, blood splattered coat. He moved a hand and just then realized that he is in fact looking at the ice _mirror_ , reflecting his image. He stepped back, only to be stopped harshly with another frozen wall, hard as a concrete. Victor yelped from surprise and then the unthinkable happened - his Soul Gem fell out from his palm, rolled itself right to the mirror and vanished inside.

"Ah-!" he gasped reflexively and clutched his hands to his chest.

He was _freezing!_

_The beasts are feeding with emotions.._

The basic formulas started to entwine in his brain, memorized years ago.

"Give it back!" he almost shriek, remembering the rest of the sentence. It wasn´t just feeding - beasts were _stealing_ the emotions and then toss the prey away as an empty can. That means that all his memories, good as well as bad will serve as a main dish to the creatures that trapped him in this ice prison.

"No! Don´t take him from me! NO!"

Victor fell on his knees helplessly, unable to run or summon anything. His hands were still clutching to the chest, his head about to explode. The mirror fell apart and almost like looking to the end of a narrow tunnel, he spotted something.. something he recognized.

Except it wasn´t supposed to exist, at least not in _this_ world.

The creature suddenly appeared right in front of him, reaching out its hand forward and searching for something in his hair. Victor felt pulling and when the hand again appeared before his eyes, it was holding a painfully familiar blue-string and slowly started to fade until it became almost transparent.

_No.. please.._

Victor felt like glued to the ground, unable to move, scream, cry, or anything else. With eyes wide open he could just watch as the creature left together with the only thing what remained him of Yuuri.

He felt his eyes welling with tears and his whole body shaking uncontrallably. Something hit him hard in his shoulder and his hair spilled out all over his face.

Victor drowned in the darkness that encircled him like a pack of hungry wolves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is interested how I pictured Victor caring Yuuri´s string in his hair, I think it would be similar to Ashura from Naruto, who used to wrap bondages around his hair strings. I imagine that he wrapped some part of it and left the rest loose, hidden in his hair.


	2. Wake Up

_Victor.._

_Victor winced._

_That voice.._

_"Yuuri?" he asked. "Is.. that you? Did my time finally come?"_

_Yes, it´s me. I´m here. Come, quickly! I´ve been waiting.. all this time, I´ve been waiting for you!_

_"Yuuri, I.. Don´t leave me. Please, take me with you. I can´t anymore-"_

 

 

_Yuuri? I wonder who that is. Cute name, though._

 

Victor frowned. He knew this voice and it definitely wasn´t Yuuri´s.

He slowly opened up his eyes, spotting a white ceiling and just second after, the face with a brownish skin, big grey eyes and mope of dark hair appeared before him.

"Hey, Victor," greeted him Phichit and moved aside so Victor could sat properly.

_So it was a dream, huh.._

"What am I doing here?" he managed to push out of himself. The whole room was spinning and his body hurt. Victor knew his condition was not life-threatening but he could think of times when he felt better.

"I found you last night lying on the ground almost in the middle of the nest. You had some injuries on your chest and under ribs, so I carried you here and healed you."

Just now Victor realized he is lying in Phichit´s bed, half-naked from the waist up. He blushed - didn´t even knew why - and reflexively grabbed his neatly folded shirt lying next to him to cover his nudity. Victor knew Phichit probably meant well, but he just wasn´t used to spend a lot of time with other people anymore. He knew enough about short life of a hunter and parting ways was always painful. If possible, Victor wanted to avoid that.

"I-," he started, unsure how to continue. "Thank you for your care but I cannot abuse your hospitality any longer. I´m sorry I caused you trouble."

Victor pushed away the blanket and slowly stood up from the clean sheets and warm pillow.

"Victor," started Phichit, not even trying to hide the hurt in his voice, "before you leave, could you please transform? Right here, in front of me?"

"What?" blurted out of Victor. "Why?"

"I want to make sure of something."

Victor took a glimpse on his ring finger and almost huffed from relief to again see his Soul Gem. Phichit probably somehow managed to regain it.

"Well?" asked the Thai again.

Victor sighed and transformed, already feeling the weight of the coat on his shoulders.

"Hmm," Phichit looked puzzled. "May I ask you for one more thing? Summon some of your guns."

"What is your point?" almost growled Victor.

" _Victor_ ," implied Phichit, now visibly irritated. "I´ve helped you as I would help any other citizen of this city. Being CEO or not, we´ve known each other for good couple years now. So, don´t flatter yourself and do me a tiny favour. It´s for your sake, too. Now, perform your summoning magic. You can even choose something from this room - anything will do. Just _do_ it finally."

Victor eyed on him, but rather bit his tongue than to spat something in Phichit´s face. He closed his eyes and imagined his favourite weapon, Sig Sauer P210. Just after the mental image popped up in his mind, he was ready to summon it. It just needed that little something..

Except that nothing happened. Victor opened up his eyes, staring at his bare hands in awe. From the moment he learned summoning magic, never before did he experience such failure. He tried it again immediately, but without success. He couldn´t feel it anymore - the familiar warmth in his fingers, forgoing the moment when the pistol was supposed to appear in his hands.

"I thought so," came in from Phichit and Victor winced. He almost forgot someone else is in the room, too.

"The beasts probably stole some of your power," said the Thai seriously and gave him a concerned look.

Victor sat back on the bed in disbelief. He never heard of anything like that before.

"How..?"

"Well.. if you imagine that magic is the source of energy as well and those creatures feed themselves with emotional energy.. See? Your Soul Gem is darker than yesterday when I found it. That is probably a proof of it."

Phichit kept talking but Victor´s mind was elsewhere.

_Stolen.. they have stolen.._

_A string from Yuuri!_

He almost jumped out of bed, surprising Phichit who stopped talking abruptly.

"I´m wasting my time here! The string, they stole the string-"

"For God´s sake, Victor! Calm down a bit!"

Phichit somehow managed to grab him by his shoulders and pushed him again on the sheets.

"So what happened yesterday, exactly?"

But Victor only darted his eyes to the ground, his rush slowly fading away.

"Say, Phichit.. if I kill the beast that has taken something from me, will I gain it back?"

Phichit let his shoulders go and sat on the chair nearby.

"I don´t know," he admitted after a while. "This is the first time I´ve ever encountered such a thing. But more importantly.. I can literally see in your face you are going to make something reckless. May I remind you that without your summoning magic that would be certain-"

"I know!" shouted Victor, louder than he wanted to. "But what do you expect me to do? Sit on my ass and do nothing?!"

Phichit glared at him but kept his composure.

"Yuri and I will come up with the strategy against Giant Beast and after we defeat it, maybe we´ll somehow manage to acquire your lost thing again. But you _won´t_ be joining us. Are we clear?"

Victor clutched his fists, his finger digging in the cloth.

_Unacceptable. He´s totally.. Fuck, never mind. I guess I just have to do it again._

"Phichit," his eyes locked with the grey ones. "I´m fine now."

"Huh?" The younger hunter seemed startled.

"Again, thank you for all your care," Victor was practically purring now, glancing at Phichit with his innocent blue eyes. "Getting ambushed by beasts just like that - pretty lame, and I call myself a veteran? Anyway, I´ll go now. Please say hi to Yuri from me."

"Uhm.. okay?"

Phichit just kept sitting, watching him leave.

"I´m glad you are mostly unhurt. Just.. think about before you leap, okay, Victor? In a world you can be robbed away from your feelings.. anything could happen."

"Exactly."

Victor turned around and dedicated him his most pretty and most fake smile he could ever pull off.

The Thai smiled in return and even waved him on his way back.

Victor closed the door behind himself.

 _That lucky bastard_.

 

 

Just after he opened up the main door, Victor again felt another presence invading his mind.

_If you will use it very often, Phichit will eventually found out you are deceiving him._

Victor turned around and on the stairs leading away from the building spotted a medium-sized, white cat. Its pink eyes were glowing in the shadows.

 _Luckily, I can still use it. My memory-manipulation magic.._ , he thought for himself, paying no attention to the creature.

 _It would be better if it would also prove effective against beasts_ , declared the animal and spun his tail around, following him on the sidewalk. _It sure is amazing ability, but if you were to master time-manipulation magic.. that would be something else._

 _Again this topic?_ replied Victor while he slowly started to head to his own apartment.

_It´s called intellectual curiosity. More importantly, what will you do now when you lost your summoning magic?_

_You´re such pain in the ass_ , sighed Victor mentally, speeded up and vanished Kyuubey from the sight.

He needed some time alone.

 

 

_Around ten years ago, when I gained consciousness after me and Yuuri parted away, I woke up in the new world. World with beasts instead of witches, where the dead turned alive once again. However, instead of my time-manipulation magic, I obtained memory-manipulation magic. I guess it´s somehow connected to the new rules of the universe Yuuri get to overwrite. But that´s still doesn´t answer the most basic question.._

_Why?_

"Isn´t it great Victor Nikiforov himself? The accomplished CEO of a transnational company?"

Victor winced, pulled away from his thoughts. Yuri was standing right in front of him, his green eyes almost shining in the dark. Impudent smile appeared on his face while he took a bite from his apple.

"You run away from Phich, didn´t you? I know his lectures can be unbearable sometimes."

Victor stopped himself, almost admitting the boy is right. He realized just now his pitiful position as hunter with no magic. Well, at least none that can be shown to others. An ally could be useful.

"Yuri? I want to ask you.. why are you still staying in this city? Otabek is gone now."

"Tsch! Talk about killing the mood." Yuri glared at him, almost throwing said apple in his direction. Finally he answered, his face confused mix of anger and sadness.

"I´m avenging him, what else? As soon as I find that Giant Beast, that asshole will perish by my hand!"

"Hm. What a good timing. I am looking for it, too."

Yuri snorted, finally finished up the apple and tossed the core away. "Good try, but without your magic you can look only for a nice place at the cemetery, maybe. You want to die or something?"

"No, I don´t. However I was wondering whether you will share its whereabouts, when you´ll find it."

"Hmpf. If you leave me the final blow, I have no problems with that. See you, old man."

Yuri turned on his heal and vanished, leaving Victor standing alone in the darkness.


	3. I Came to Help

Victor was roaming through the streets, Kyuubey sitting on his shoulders. During last weeks, they were forced to spend a lot more time together than Victor ever expected, but he had to surrender. After all, his magical aura helped to hide the animal in case any of the civilians would awoke his potential and spotted a white, alien cat.

 _It´s been more than two months_ , he thought for himself. _I somehow expected my magic will come back to normal, but it didn´t happen. Even the Grief Triangles Yuri gave me were useless._

 _That´s not surprising,_ meddled Kuubey right by his ear. _The beasts stole so much of your magic that even your reserve was affected. In other words, your current supply of magical energy is.. pathetic._

"Are you done?" he whispered angrily.

 _I am just providing you an explanation. You looked like you needed some. Unfortunately for you, I don´t know about any hunter that gained his powers back by killing a beast that has robbed him about them_.

"Maybe, but I can still at least _try_."

_That is certainly one possibility.. however I noticed that it is getting more difficult to find even one of them. It looks like they were after your magic from the very beginning. Maybe the strength of the hunter is directly proportional to the strength of the beast. And that would explain also the current status of them missing in this city. Have you considered something like this, Victor?_

Victor bit his lip but kept walking.

_I haven´t._

\--

Victor kept walking for another while but without any results. Finally, he found a free park bench and sat down. The sun was just setting and the pleasant breeze was tickling his cheeks and parting his hair strings away. Fortunately, Kyuubey refused to make him company any longer. Either way, it felt pointless to continue without any idea _where_ to go, actually.

_It´s no use. Beasts have different movement patterns than witches had. Searching at abandoned locations is only waste of time. Maybe I should go take a look to the nearby cities as well.._

"Yo."

The short greeting echoed in the silent air and the thin silhouette stepped out of the shadows suddenly.

"Yuri?"

"Look, I might have found something. Come here." The boy kept still, waiting for Victor to stand up from the bench quickly and follow him.

"You found a clue?"

Yuri opened up his mouth but before he could gave him an answer, something large and sharp stabbed to the ground and parted him from Victor. The flash of golden light appeared and they could both recognize a familiar sword.

"Phichit?" asked Victor in confusion, since he didn´t notice his presence at all.

"Victor!" came the shout from his left and in a minute Phichit already appeared nearby.

"Listen to me! Step away from him - that´s not Yuri, it´s a _beast_!"

"What?" blurted out of Victor. "Are you insane? Of course it´s Yuri, who else would it-"

"Watch out!" yelled out Phichit while sending multiple sword sin his direction.

"Fuck," cursed Victor, transforming instantly. When the dust dispersed away a bit, he lifted up his sight and spotted..

Beasts. Six or seven, all shrouded in fog and smelling intensively. They appeared all of a sudden, as if they never left; encircling him slowly.

Phichit jumped next to him, covering his back. He turned his head aside and started whispering.

"I´ll be the decoy - you run away. You should do it quickly, since to be honest I don´t have much energy left."

"Don´t worry," replied Victor hastily. "I have what I need."

He stuck his hand to his pocket, taking out his favourite Sig Sauer, while watching as Phichit´s eyes grew bigger any second as his sight slid down at his gun belt.

"Holy shit Victor, that´s a whole arsenal! Where did you get all that?!"

"I have both money and connections," noted Victor. "But now we should focus on the ones right here."

"I agree."

Both hunter looked at each other and nodded, the strategy already forming inside of their minds. Victor had fought alongside Phichit before and knew his abilities and attacks - as well as Phichit was familiar with his moves. When he felt the back against his stiffened, Victor took it as a signal.

_Now!_

Phichit´s voice resonated in his head and he quickly jumped forward, right into that smelly, unpleasant fog.

 

 

After few minutes it was over. Victor manage to save at least some of his ammo but his disappointment grew bigger as he realized the Giant Beast was not present this time. He was sure the creature still took a possession of both Yuuri´s string as well as some of his abilities. Victor gritted his teeth in frustration when Yuri-Beast again showed up before him. Mean, ugly smile was dancing at his lips while his limbs got somehow detached from the body and were currently freely floating alongside him. Although it was now clear that the creature couldn´t possibly be Yuri, it was still uneasy for him to shoot something bearing his face. Forbidding himself to further examine the beast, Victor touched the trigger and pulled.

But nothing happened. Sure, the shot could still be heard in the air, but Yuri-beast dodged it without any problems and kept showing him his mean grin.

But Victor knew something was not right. For a second there, he felt very familiar, as if.. as if..

He kept searching for an answer slipping away from his fingers until the ideas in his head finally started to make sense again.

_Was that.. time-manipulation magic? I could swear the time stopped for a second._

"Victor!"

Phichit´s voice broke his line of thoughts and Victor caught only a glimpse of Yuri-Beast vanishing in the night.

"Fuck, it got away," cursed Phichit and detransformed, his voice trembling with anger. "But I sure hit it couple times, so-"

"Forget it, Phichit," interrupted him Victor, still shaken from his realization. "Since when can beasts mimic _humans_?"

"I-," Phichit opened up his mouth but something by his right side took his attention. A clear green light appeared and in a minute, Yuri Plisetsky stood next to them, alive and well.

"I´ve been looking for you all night! Did something happen or what?"

Before Victor could prevent it, Phichit transformed again and in a blitz pointed one of his sword directly at Yuri. The boy went silent immediately, only his eyes jumping between the two of them.

"What the fuck?" he finally growled, his eyes glaring daggers like a tiger caught up in a trap.

"Looks like _this_ one is real," declared Phichit and put his sword down, but remained transformed.

Victor watched as Yuri´s eyes widened and the boy took a breath.

"The real one? You mean you´ve encountered a _fake_ me?"

Now Victor finally realized he should step in the conversation.

"Actually, yes. You see-"

"Don´t," interrupted him Yuri, his voice suddenly tired. "I know what you mean. Earlier tonight, I also thought it´s just my mind playing games with me. But now, after you said this.."

His eyes, big and desperate, found Victor´s and bored firmly to them.

"I met Otabek."

Victor gulped down; he could easily imagine the shock Yuri had to undergo after seeing someone presumed dead.

_Well, fucks._

\--

They decided to call it a night and discuss everything properly the next day. Victor was slowly walking home, almost slumbering. It was deep night already, but lights still could be seen here and there.

_Victor.._

Some sweet, pleasant voice reached his ears and he stopped abruptly.

_What in the word-_

_Victor, love.. I missed you so much._

Victor kept standing. _No one_ had called him like that for a very, very long time. No one except.. him.

 

Before he could react, a fog appeared in front of him and when it cleared out, Victor couldn´t believe his eyes. He even blinked twice, but the image didn´t fade away.

 

In front of him stood Yuuri.

He was wearing causal dark-blue jeans and pure white shirt Victor didn´t recognized. His feet were bare; and he was smiling at him both with his lips and his eyes, that chocolate brown he hadn´t seen for _so_ long.

It was _Yuuri_ , alive and well, as if the last ten years never happened and they just met on the street in one warm, silent night.

 

Victor´s throat went dry as his lips parted and he had to say that name; to make sure this was not a dream.

"Yuuri..?"

 

Yuuri gave him another heartwarming smile and reached out his hands towards him.

"Long time no see, Vitya. I came to help."


	4. You Are Not Real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

Victor´s initial was _run_ \- run and hide in that warm embrace; let himself be caressed by those loving hands, to hear that voice he was longing after.

But something still hold him in place. However incredible it would be to meet Yuuri again, he somehow couldn´t believe that is really happening. To put it simply, it all looked just _too_ good to be true. And indeed, Victor took a second look at him and noticed small differenced he wasn´t able to distinguish before. Yuuri´s hair were too messy, the brown in his eyes was in fact slightly darker than it should be and his smile now seemed a bit fake - or weird, like of someone who is still not very sure how to do it.

"You are not Yuuri," Victor finally declared, disappointment almost dripping from his voice.

Yuuri´s smile froze for a second, but the creature didn´t unglued its sight from Victor.

"You are right, of course. I´m not your Yuuri. Just like everyone else call us, I´m 'a beast'."

Victor threw such harsh look at the beast that the fake Yuuri almost winced. The truth now seemed even crueler when he was given a false glimpse of hope. His heart was beating painfully and he started to feel a heat rushing up his head.

"Did you came to mock me? To spit in my face, to laugh at me? To torture me even more?"

"What..?"

The fake Yuuri seemed puzzled and started to shake his head.

"No, of course not. Why-"

"I changed my mind," growled Victor, almost seeing red already and transformed. "This is too much."

He stuck his hand to his coat pocket to take out the gun, but seeing that fake Yuuri immediately jumped forward and shoved something in his other hand.

"Here. This belongs to you, right? I came to return it. We´re sorry to upset you. It holds a strong power so we mistook it for something else.. But now, we don´t need it anymore."

Victor went speechless, his fingers already feeling a familiar touch. He opened up his left palm and the blue string appeared, rolling between his fingers.

"Now.. will you listen to my story?" asked the beast.

Even fake, Victor couldn´t take his sight away from those eyes. They resembled Yuuri a lot, but still seemed somehow different. Curious. Innocent. Almost harmless.

He let the gun vanish and detransformed.

"Okay," he declared, but his eyes avoided the strange ones.

\--

"So.. now you see that we didn´t intend to harm you in any way. It was the Giant Beast, and it doesn´t belong to our kind. And that brings me to.. May I ask you for a favour, Vitya?"

"Don´t," blurted out of Victor. "Call me Victor.. only Victor."

Vitya was too personal, too intimate. Nobody besides Yuuri was allowed to call him like that. It was _theirs_ ; and shall remain theirs only.

"Okay then, Victor. I want you to defeat the Giant Beast for us."

Victor opened up his mouth in defense but fake Yuuri continued.

"We beasts were born in order to prevent the dangerous things from human to increase in this world."

"The dangerous things?" repeated Victor, still confused.

"Uhm, yes. It´s similar to what you and your friends use when fighting with us, actually."

"You mean 'emotions'?" finally understood Victor.

"Emotions, yes! That´s it. I apologize if I sound funny to you, but nobody taught me your language properly. Anyway, if human emotional energy accumulates in large amounts, it can become very dangerous to us and even to the world. That is why we are trapping your emotions and create equilibrium in order to keep everything safe. However, one day we encountered extremely strong source of this energy.. and found _you._ "

"And that was when you decided you need to eliminate the thread, didn´t you?" finished Victor after him and glanced at fake Yuuri who suddenly looked quite embarrassed.

"Uhm.. yes. It´s not like we hold any grudge to you or any other hunter.. but we just do what needs to be done."

"Then, may I ask you a question?"

Victor pointed out with his hand on the empty bench they found by the way. Fake Yuuri sat, but Victor remained standing.

"Why did you start mimicking humans?"

The beast´s eyes grew larger and he even leaned closer to Victor.

"Exactly! We are being _affected_ by your emotions!"

_Well, that could explain his look._

"Just let me continue, okay?"

Victor nodded and fake Yuuri again started talking.

"There is this thing.. I think you call it 'Grief Triangles'? It´s basically energy we gather from humans transformed into a safe form so it cannot spread itself any longer. But.. we couldn´t change the energy specifically derived from you, Victor."

That caught Victor´s interest but fake Yuuri didn´t stop.

"I was told that your energy was so different that even Giant Beast couldn´t process it. Its body started swelling and changing to unnatural forms.. Even we, smaller beasts became affected. And that is basically what is happening right now. We have become beasts in human form. In order to digest the power, the Giant Beast is hiding somewhere right now, but it´s only matter of time until he will change, too.. Victor!"

Fake Yuuri jumped from the bench and in one moment it looked like he wanted to catch Victor´s hands in his own, but eventually decided not to do so.

"What is going on is not natural. We need to localize the Giant Beast, to exterminate it and return you power back to you. So.. what do you say?"

Victor kept looking at those fake eyes for a few seconds and ten averted his sight. He sighed.

"I am sorry, but how I am supposed to believe you?"

"I´m different. I´m not like other beasts."

Victor almost laughed but the beast stayed serious. Its chocolate eyes were boring into him until Victor finally nodded and looked at the creature once again. If this being will lead him to the Giant Beast, it was probably worth trying.

"You are staying with me tonight. I will decide what to do next later. And now, come. We can´t afford anyone seeing us together like this."

He turned on his heel and finally headed home.

\--

_It certainly looks and feels like a real beast. Very interesting._

Kyuubey kept sitting fake Yuuri in the lap and his head was tilting either on the right and the next moment again on the left side. Yuuri too, looked quite puzzled, but tried to pet the animal on its back and the cat clang even closer to him.

 _But what is more remarkable is that I am sensing your power in this beast, Victor,_ declared Kyuubey and turned his head back. _Maybe they used your memory-manipulation magic to depict themselves as people you know._

"Wait," frowned Victor a minute after. "Are you saying you _don´t_ see him as a human right now?"

"He can´t," replied the fake Yuuri back. "He never met the real Yuuri, so right now he can´t see me or talk to me. And probably hear me, too. Right, Kyuubey?"

The cat didn´t answer and kept examining the being under his pawns.

"See?" the beast even smiled at him.

Victor gave him a quick nod, again deep in his thoughts.

_Shit, things are getting complicated. If all beasts are now affected with my emotional energy, then in theory, they all can use my magic powers as well.. at least that fake Yuri seemed like he could do it._

 

_It seems that this beast mutation is connected to the curses._

"Curses?" repeated Victor.

_Yes. There is your power mixed together with them.. Such a precious specimen should be examined more thoroughly! If you allow me-_

_Mind your own business, Kyuubey. This-is-a-secret. Understood?_

"Victor? You are frowning," pointed out the fake Yuuri.

"Ah, sorry," replied Victor. "Anyway, now to the strategy.."

"Sure!" agreed fake Yuuri and again smiled. "So I was thinking and.."

The beast´s voice started to fade away as if someone put mute on the television.

 _Victor_ , echoed a high-pitched voice in his head.

Victor sighed.

_What now?_

_It´s about those curses. The level of pollution is incredibly high. In fact, if any Soul Gem became so polluted, it would be probably guided away by the Law of Cycles._

Victor suddenly felt his throat went dry.

_What do you mean?_

_I mean, theoretically, this beast shouldn´t even exist. In any case, you should stay alert._

Victor gulped down, watching the fake Yuuri rambling, sitting at his couch and kicking his bare feet while looking around. The sun was just rising and illuminated his face with the everpresent smile. It was hard to believe that this being could hurt him in any way, but Kyuubey´s warning kept resonating in Victor´s ears.

_I hate to admit it, but you are probably right._

Kyuubey lifted up his sight, but its face remained illegible.


	5. Follow the Rules

_First, each of us will search only in specified area and we won´t be crossing our territories._

_Second, we will meet every night at the specified place and time._

_Third, if anything would happen, don´t rush to the neighboring district. Rather, connect with me telepathically or use your phones._

 

Those were the rules Victor proposed to Phichit and Yuri three days ago. Everybody agreed, especially after Victor added that he will avoid direct fighting and rather stay on stand-by until the Giant Beast would be discovered. These rules allowed him to search his area freely with the beast by his side, but otherwise didn´t bring any tangible results so far.

Victor was surprised how quickly did actually fake Yuuri grew closer to him - he wasn´t sure _what_ exactly did the creature saw in his memories, but he kept touching him, clutching to him and even trying to hold his hands with him at daily basis now. At first Victor constantly felt as if betraying Yuuri, but it was almost impossible to hate something with _his_ face, _his_ eyes and _his_ smile. The subtle differences started to vanish gradually and although this Yuuri was too childish and predictable, he became somehow fond of him. But it wasn´t love - it couldn´t be. His love was long lost and Victor was well-aware of that. This was just a copy image, the silly replacement of someone who existed long ago and never ever will come back.

\--

"Say, Victor.. what do you think of me?"

"Hm?"

Victor lifted up his sight from his Soul Gem. After the week the search ended and everybody started with the same area all over again. He sure wasn´t expecting question like this - the fake Yuuri caught him totally unprepared.

"I.. feel nothing about you," he admitted after a while. "Nothing serious, I mean. Small sympathies, but no more."

The beast gave him a curious look and then averted his eyes.

"Just as I thought, you´re lying," he declared.

"What?" Victor was startled. He could be a good liar if he wanted to, but this was not a case. "Why do you think that?"

"Because the reason while you feel almost nothing to me - although I am practically perfect copy of Yuuri Katsuki - is that you heart has been broken."

 

It was such a rude and honest statement that Victor reflexively stopped, ignoring the blinking of his Soul Gem.

"You-", he started, but then realized he didn´t know what to say next. Although put bluntly, could it be..

True?

Sure, they had to parted ways with Yuuri many, many times. It was painful for both of them, he was tormented, he kept accused himself.. But even when Yuuri decided for his final wish, he never made it with intention to hurt him - or at least that was what he thought so far. Even Yuuri said it, and he was sure, that..

"Ugh," Victor put a palm through his face; his head started to hurt somehow.

"Victor?" he again heard _that_ voice and almost gritted his teeth.

"Just.. let it go," he pushed out of himself but the fake Yuuri thought otherwise.

"Victor, I wanted to explain it to you, to help you understand. You see, when you collapsed that night, we were very close to take away even your heart - just before that other hunter interfered. So many emotions were robbed away from you, that now - even if you looked at me, your beloved Yuuri - you feel almost nothing."

Victor glared at him through his fingers.

"Stop," he almost whispered, anger started to bubble in his chest. "I dare you to continue."

Unexpectedly, the beast indeed became silent and just kept watching him.

"I don´t care what you say. My emotions or without them - my feelings for _him_ won´t ever change! I will keep fighting for the people he sacrificed himself for; for this city he wanted to protect! And to do that, I need to found the Giant Beast, acquire my powers back and then kill every single one of you! Is that what you wanted to hear?!"

Victor was now panting heavily; realizing that he probably started screaming at some point in the time. There was ringing in his ears and his chest clutched, craving after oxygen.

_Fuck, I´m seriously losing it. If this goes any further.._

"You´re are still lying.. but now to yourself."

Victor winced at the sound and turned around. Apparently, fake Yuuri had moved himself and now was by his left side, his sight suddenly sad.

"It´s obvious that your feelings and your actions don´t match. You still want to be same person that Yuuri remembers, although he is no longer with you. Are you scared? Did your faith in Yuuri ever staggered?"

The beast didn´t gave him the time to answer and continued.

"I think you are now rejecting this world. I´ve seen you avoiding other hunters.. no, you are actually avoiding everyone. But the truth is that you are very, very afraid.. This is a new world, a world without Yuuri Katsuki while the only one that remembers him is you. And even if you do someday get used to it, you are afraid that the moment will come when even _you_ will admit that there was no Yuuri to begin with - and you will forget. Yes, it´s a world where hunters are allowed to die peacefully, but in the same time it is also the one where you are feeling very, very lonely. Even now, your heart is somewhere else. It´s trapped in the place that no longer exists. Victor," the fake Yuuri leaned in and suddenly embraced the taller figure, "don´t you think that world with witches was better than this one? However painful, he was still there."

Click sound could be heard in the air and the beast stopped talking, looking down in surprise. There, right at its belly, Victor was firmly pressing a grenade, his finger on a safety device.

"If I hear one more bad word about Yuuri´s wish coming from your mouth, I will show you no mercy. Are we clear?"

Victor stepped back a little, finger still carefully pressed on the metal, his eyes terribly cold.

"I expected you would show up your true colors someday.. Even though you resemble him, you are _nothing_ like him. You are just a beast and my enemy."

There was a moment of silence followed by quiet chuckle.

"Am I?" came from the creature that was still hugging him and didn´t let go; its warm hands deceptively soothing his back. "You may not realize it, but I´m also an image of your very _heart,_ Victor."

Victor´s eyes widened as his finger put on the grenade begun to tremble.

_This asshole..!_

He wanted to release the safety devise, he really did; but he somehow couldn´t. Despite struggling against it, fake Yuuri´s words were digging deeply into his poor heart, hurting him, confusing him.

_It´s just a beast! Kill it!_

His mind was yelling at him what to do but Victor couldn´t obey it.

With trembling hands, he lifted up his sight only to meet his face, _Yuuri´s_ face.

He couldn´t do it.

Victor detransformed, his outfit and guns vanishing in a crystal-blue flash. His other hand was clutching to his Soul Gem, its pale shine piercing through his fingers. He felt his lips shaking and words stuck in his throat. Unable to prevent his cry from escaping, Victor muffled his mouth with his forearm, partly covering his face and ran away.

He surrendered.


	6. Help Me to Forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot is getting thicker.. enjoy!

Victor was running as fast as he could, tears dripping down from his face. His hair, once clean and neat, were now messy and full of knots, smashing him in the face by every step.

_This.. this is not possible. Are my feelings for Yuuri lacking? Am I starting.. to doubt them?_

_No! This can´t be!_

He wiped away the tears and continued running.

_I can´t betray him! My memories, my feelings are the only proof he was once alive! Because he is.. he was-_

 

Victor stopped abruptly as if he hit the concrete wall. The street was dark and empty, illuminated only with a few lamps that were blinking, forcing him to give them at least some attention.

_Yuuri was my.._

_What **was** he to me?_

Terrified, Victor realized he _doesn´t_ remember that anymore.

Cold sweat tickled him on his spine and he brushed away the moist from his forehead impatiently.

_No way could I forget that. I remember his favourite food; how he used to snore a bit during sleeping, the color of his irises.. If I remember things like this, he had to be important to me, right? So why.. why can´t I remember..?_

Suddenly something came to his mind.

Since Yuuri was a witch hunter, he had to make a contract in some point of his life. And that means..

 _Kyuubey!_ called out Victor, hoping that the animal will be nearby.

 

 

 

" 'Hunters are the men with awaken potential who bear the duty to fight beasts in return for getting one wish granted'. Is that so?"

Victor´s blue eyes darted into the pink ones.

_Correct. But there seem to be another question missing._

"Exactly. Kyuubey, tell me what _my_ wish was, then."

The animal kept sitting at the ground, flicking his ears occasionally. After a few minutes, Victor could again recognize its voice inside his head despite Kyuubey´s mouth wasn´t moving.

"I can´t do that. You are somehow.. special and even I don´t know why is that. I have no idea, not even vague one, about the nature of your wish."

Victor gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Just like I thought. I am the only one remembering my wish. Kyuubey," he again turned to animal, "do you remember how I told you about the world with witches instead of beasts? You called it 'a mere dream'."

_Yes, I remember. What about it?_

"Well.. do you think that it is possible - by any means – to turn that 'dream' into a reality? With my magic, for example?"

Kyuubey stretched itself and shook its head.

_I don´t think so. It takes courage to think that you can implant your fake memories into the mind of every single person in the planet._

Victor tsked and even rolled his eyes.

"No, that would be nonsense. I meant more like rewriting the mind of only _one_ person. And technically, there is no reason why that one person couldn´t be.. me."

The animal didn´t reply, just repositioned itself to the more comfortable seating.

"I thought my feelings would never shaken no matter how many of my emotions could be stolen.. I thought my feelings for _believing_ in Yuuri would never change.. and yet.."

Victor was now more or less speaking to himself, again getting lost in his own thoughts quickly.

"Now I understand why everything is fading away.. if I am the _only_ one to remember, how can I be sure that it _has_ happened in the first place? All those stories about witches.. all those memories I cherish so much.. even that beast carrying his face.. _none_ of that is true."

Victor´s voice again began to tremble when he realized how many times he risked his life for nothing; how many times he was lying to himself that everything will be good again. Sometimes, someday.

All conveniently created by _his_ own magic.

 

 _Aren´t all those memories just reminiscing of a dream that never even became a reality?_ , thought Victor.

 

He felt like suddenly being hit by a sledge-hammer, reflexively clutching his hands to himself. Something started to hurt him in his chest and Victor had to kneel down, the prickly gravel stinging him through thin trousers at his knees.

_If he never existed.. then why did I become a hunter in a first place? Why am I fighting, trying to protect this city, this world..? Without being rewarded for my hard work, having no one close to me, will I just spend my life killing the beasts until I die? That would be.. my end?_

 

Victor´s breathing became abrupt, his heart almost jumping out from his chest. His muscles were sore after he spent most of the night running in circles and getting nowhere. He distantly perceived that he was supposed to meet Phichit and Yuri at their secret location, but right now Victor couldn´t care less about it. He felt like falling apart slowly. Something cold dripped on his forehead and he winced - it was starting to rain.

 

"There you are."

Victor turned itself at that familiar voice.

Fake Yuuri was standing there, reaching one of his hands to his direction.

"If you will stay like that, you´ll probably catch a cold," he smiled and even winked at him. "Come, let´s go home, Victor."

 

Victor stood up but kept still, the rain quietly pouring down his face, drenching his cheeks. He slowly started to walk towards the beast, only to turn left and leaving him behind without even looking back.

"Hey, Victor. Wait-"

The creature reached out and pulled him by his sleeve, but Victor yanked it back to himself and kept walking away from all those lies. Without looking properly in front of him, he ended up almost bumping into someone.

Yuri.

Both him and Phichit were standing in front of him in the pouring rain, gazing at them.

Just now Victor realized that none of them can see the fake Yuuri in his human form.

"Fuck," blurted out of him while Yuri quickly pushed him away, transforming already.

"I will make it quick but there is a hell of an explanation awaiting ya," growled the boy behind Victor´s back.

"Stop!" he shouted and turned around reflexively. "Leave him be-"

"You must be fucking kidding me!" yelled out Yuri. "It´s a _beast_! What´s wrong with you, old man? You look awful, by the way."

 

Victor´s eyes were now jumping between the two faces: Phichit´s full of confusion and Yuri´s frowning with anger and suspicion.

"Am I? I wonder why is that, huh.."

Victor was so, so exhausted - he wanted nothing more than to dismiss this charade and head home to his own bed. His head was swirling when he remembered about Yuuri who probably doesn´t even existed and himself, whose existence was just as pointless as he thought so.

"You-" he started, but he words didn´t seem to come. He felt _split_ \- one part of him still wanted to believe those stories full of witches and miracles and the other one just wanted.. what was it again?

Victor almost cried as he again put his head in his palms and felt the pulsing in his temples getting worse.

"Oh fuck! Phich, look! Behind Victor!"

Victor managed to turn around but saw nothing; instead he noticed a smaller hand slipping in his own; it felt right and bad in the same time.

"Victor! You are being imprisoned by a beast! Prepare yourself - I´ll drag you out!" shouted Phichit, transformed himself and already unbound the golden sash around his waist. The cloth multiplied and changed into multiple swords in no more than two seconds.

"Imprisoned?" Victor heard himself saying. Now he felt like laughing and crying at once - it was very confusing. He managed to fix his gaze and lock his sight with the Thai.

"The one imprisoning me is not this beast.. it´s _Yuuri_."

 

There was a moment of silence only interrupted by a quiet sound of rain.

"Yuuri..?" Phichit was repeating slowly. "I heard that name coming from you before, but-"

"Neither of you could possibly know who that is, so I´ll tell you."

Victor´s body started to became numb and he barely managed to stand upright.

"It´s the name of God - the Law of Cycles that leads all hunters to the safe place after their role here ends. He sacrificed himself and paid the ultimate price, so others like us won´t end up changing in the same creatures we hunt every night. He represents hope itself - for all of us."

Victor just now realized he shifted most of his body weight to fake Yuuri who kept supporting him, his hands keeping him upright.

"Law of Cycles.. I think I´ve heard about that before," said Yuri, his hand frozen half-way from his pocket, already holding a handle of a dagger. "So Beka was taken by this Yuuri as well?"

"Yes," admitted Victor. "His death was inevitable, but because of Yuuri´s sacrifice he could die peacefully and without any pain."

Yuri growled at this declaration, his eyes changing to the green fury.

"Tsch! What do you know about him, Victor!"

Anger was almost tangible in the air as Yuri sent some daggers flying at Victor. Phichit winced but managed to dodge them down before they got to hurt him.

"Yuri!" he hissed out. "Focus! Remember - he is not transformed! He can´t fight back!"

"Shut up, Phichit! And you too, old man! Just like you in this very moment, I personally had to watch him die in beast´s claws.. but Beka fought till the very end! Don´t you have a wish you wanted to protect? Ha, Victor?"

 

Victor now leaned fully onto those warm hands embracing him. It was pleasant and he felt comfortable. He almost forgot what it´s like.

"I don´t."

It was a simple sequence, but both Phichit and Yuri froze at spot.

"I have no memories about making contract with Kyuubey, and neither does it."

"But.. but.." Phichit was searching in vain for words. "How can you even _be_ a hunter, then?"

"Go ask my past self.. the one that rewrote my memories _without_ letting the current me know!" replied Victor. "You two may have thought that this Yuuri is just some silly illusion.. but I believed in him all those years! I believed that all of it really happened and when my time will come I could see him once again.. that was the only thing I dared to hope for. But now? The Law of Cycles? The hope for all hunters? _Nothing_ guarantees those are Yuuri - if he never existed in the first place! All this time I believed that Yuuri and only Yuuri is the sole salvation for me! And now.."

 

His voice broke - he couldn´t talk more.

Victor completely slid on the ground, caught only by the human beast, the fake copy of someone once dear to him. Those chocolate eyes looked softly at him and Victor burst in tears uncontrollably.

"I´m sorry, Yuuri," he cried out; loud and desperate, choking on the tears and holding his face in his palms. "I can no longer believe in anything.. What is real? And what is fake? Tell me, Yuuri, I beg you.."

The beast slowly embraced him in his arms, warm and firm.

"What do you want me to do, Victor?"

Victor uncovered his face and slowly lifted up his sight. Now it was very evident he was talking to something out of this world. The limbs of the creature got detached, joined by the torso only with thin strings and its face looked less and less human by any minute. But Victor heard _his_ voice and nothing else seemed important anymore.

 

He locked his eyes with the beast´s and whispered, voice full of trepidation.

"Please, help me forget.. Save me from being a hunter."

 

Victor heard a quiet chuckle and felt something being slipping off his finger.

_My Soul Gem.._

"I understand. Don´t worry, I will take very good care of your heart."

The beast smiled and slowly, almost sensually put its lips on the crystal, kissing it gently. Victor could just watch as his very soul slowly disappeared in creature´s hands.

"Leave him be! Victor!"

Victor could hear Phichit´s yelling, but didn´t turn around. He was too tired, too helpless and desperate to do anything. He leaned more onto the beast and closed his eyes.

He felt being lifted once more, but this time it felt.. different, almost as if he was floating in the air. The ground was now under him and his long hair slid down his shoulders. Two strong arms gripped him under his thighs and around his arms.

"Yuri, Phichit.. I´m sorry," said the beast while turning away and taking Victor with him.

 

Victor wanted to open up his eyes once more; to see, what was going on, but it was pointless. His consciousness decided to left his wrecked body and his mind became wrapped in merciful, quiet darkness.


	7. Memories

_When Victor again came to himself he realized he was still lying on the same spot, Yuuri was nowhere to be seen. The world around looked as if it was just one step away from the apocalypse. Everything was floating, the air was sticky and hot and through the rain he can´t even see properly._

_He somehow managed to climb back on his feet and like a mad man he started to run to the place he saw Yuuri for the last time._

_He was still there._

_Just one glimpse was enough for him to see that Yuuri was indeed inevitably and forever dead._

_Victor burst in tears again, his cry echoing through the air; his fists hitting the ground again and again until his skin corrupted and he started to bleed._

_"Why?" he yelled out, tears dripping from his lips, his eyes couldn´t even look at Yuuri. "Why did you do it? You knew you would die.. and you left me here alone! Why?! Answer me! Answer me, Yuuri.. Why didn´t you save yourself instead of me?"_

_He kept crying, collapsed on Yuuri´s body, clenching his trembling fists to Yuuri´s clothes; almost choking from everything he still wanted to tell him but couldn´t anymore._

_Is it true, your last words?_

_A sudden, almost childish voice entered up his head and Victor winced. Just in front of him, appeared a white creature, watching him closely with its pink eyes while spinning his tail occasionally._

_Victor´s mouth opened up from surprise and his sight cleared._

_He recognized the silhouette Phichit and Yuuri had been talking him about._

_"Kyuubey..?"_

_The animal didn´t answer, just came closer, his eyes almost painfully captivating._

_Do you really mean it, Victor Nikiforov? Are your feelings for Yuuri that strong? Is your desire so intense you would trade your own soul for it?_

_Victor just kept looking at the animal, still puzzled. Why is this cat asking such nonsense about souls and desires when Yuuri is lying right here; cold and dead, right next to him, his Yuuri.._

_And then he suddenly understood._

_"You..," he watched as the cat sat only a couple inches from him. ""Do you really grant wishes? If I would make a contract with you, will you fulfill it?"_

_Of course. That is my work here. It seems you have awakened your potential after all._

_"Then.." Victor again looked at the body lying next to him, but the sight was just too painful to bear. He at least took Yuuri´s hand and caressed his still soft skin._

_Yuuri said we could meet again.._

_Victor´s sight fell back on the animal._

_"I want to repeat my first meeting with Yuuri. But this time it should be different.. Instead of him, I will be the one that will protect him! I want to protect Yuuri Katsuki!"_

_He waited for at least some response, but Kyuubey´s face never changed. Instead Victor suddenly felt a sharp, immense pain in his chest. He yelled, grasped his clothes so that he almost felt his fingers dug into his skin. And then it ended as soon as it started and in front of him, a clear blue crystal materialized from a thin air. Without thinking, Victor reached out his hand and took it; clutching it tightly to his body as if it belonged here. On the brink of fainting, he heard Kyuubey´s voice again._

_The contract is completed! Now you are a witch hunter. So, go ahead and use your new power!_

 

The screen went black and Victor turned back to someone who resembled Yuuri, but was missing the most important - his soul. Although he had just witness how he apparently became a hunter, he was still missing some proof that would verify all of it.

He blinked for the second time and the beast was gone. Instead, Victor could now hear the silent steps of the pawns.

_Seems like it was true, after all._

Kyuubey diverted his sight from the screen and jumped to Victor sitting on simple, beige couch.

_However.. you longed too much after your dream. And in the end, almost all of your emotions were taken away by a beast. How foolish. Is this the conclusion you were hoping for?_

Victor kept staring at the pictures running on the screen and didn´t answer. He spotted himself and then Yuuri again. They were laughing; fighting some hideous creature together; kissing.. He caught a glimpse of Phichit, Otabek and Yuri as well.

_Did my life really look like this?_

Only distantly Victor perceived that fake Yuuri is sitting again next by him. He was transparent now; Victor´s Soul Gem floating freely in a void distantly reminding a human.

 _I see that your Soul Gem almost lost its shine completely. Now it can´t be turned either to hope, or despair - it´s nothing more than a stone barely keeping you alive. The Law of Cycles won´t be possible to detect a gem in stasis and thus you will never perish from this world. Too bad_ , finished the animal and jumped back to the ground since his monologue didn´t cause Victor to answer. _I had a high hopes about you, but hunter abandoning hope is equal to a useless burden. Goodbye, Victor Nikiforov._

The cat walked away, only its furry tail bobbing by each step.

 

"Victor," echoed a whisper by his left ear. "It´s coming.. I can feel its presence. I must go now."

Victor finally unglued his eyes from the screen.

Yuuri was standing there in his witch hunter´s outfit, the dark-blue of his vest strongly contrasting with the pure white of his shirt. He was so beautiful that Victor felt like crying if he had any tears left.

"Will you join me?" asked Yuuri and stretched out his hand.

Victor took the invitation and slowly stood up.

"Good. And take this back, you will need it."

Something cold and round was pushed back on his finger and then he heard a clicking sound.

The world stopped.

\--

They were running on the thin gutters, jumping from roof to the roof. It´s been a while since Victor felt adrenaline pumped down his veins, holding that hand for dear life otherwise time would stop for him as well. For a moment there, he again felt _alive_.

"Oh," the beast stopped at the edge of the roof, pointing aside. "It looked like it started to manifest already.." He let Victor´s hand go and the time started flowing once again.

Victor stepped a bit more forward and yelped from surprise. Under him, the world had changed unbelievably.

Some large, inhuman creature could be spotted in close distance. The air was warm, thick with the typical smell of the beasts and something more he couldn´t identify in that specific moment. The creature wasn´t moving in a fast speed, rather send multiple tentacles in every direction possible. Desperate screams were filling out the night since everyone that was being touched by the tentacle died instantly. Victor´s eyes suddenly found Phichit - he was lying with his face down on the street, enveloped by three thick tentacles. His heart clenched when he realized the poor hunter had to be long gone; and Yuri probably too.

Victor turned again to his left side but nobody was standing there anymore. Some flash coming from high above stung him sharply in the eyes and he tilted his head reflexively, nictating through the strong white light. Almost reminding a comet, the light kept trembling in the sky, shooting attack after attack on that giant creature. However this all lasted only for several moments - and then the flash abruptly vanished and Victor spotted a silhouette of a single person, falling down to the ground with incredible speed.

_Yuuri..?_

Without thinking, his body decided for himself and took a giant leap forward.

_Is this still a dream? Or..?_

His height reached the maximum and Victor´s body stopped for a heartbeat in the mid-air only to start falling down again. In the last second his fingertips managed to touch Yuuri´s shirt, but the moving weight torn the fabric away from his hands. Victor screamed, extended his arms even more and somehow managed to grasp the body first by his right hand, adding the left one instantly. His nails kept digging in the fabric while his wrists almost hurt being twisted in unnatural angle.

 

_I know now.. Yuuri is not product of my imagination! I don´t have to hesitate.. I finally **remembered**!_

His fists tugged further at Yuuri´s clothes, pulling him closer.

 

_That witch.. that **witch** is the proof that Yuuri once existed!_

The ground suddenly appeared in his field of view sight and Victor closed his eyes.

 

Even if this was the last thing to happen in his life.. he _remembered._


	8. I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. These two last chapter will be a little longer, hope that is okay with you :) I had to rewritten them since Victor in my view of PMMM universe doesn´t use shield for time-rewinding, but his ring.  
> Enjoy!

Victor woke up in some empty space, ground pressing hard at his back. He winced, half-expecting some gruesome injuries - the memory of him and fake Yuuri hitting the ground was still vivid in his memory. But after he managed to sit up slowly and take a look around himself, he was again greeted only by the same white emptiness. There were no splashes of blood, no witch and no Yuuri. It was probably strange, but he remained calm. He remembered; almost feeling the imaginary missing piece of puzzle finally fit into the bigger frame. Soul Gem on his finger felt warm on his skin, inviting him to use him once more. All he had to do was to twist it.

Victor took a shallow breath and did it. Nothing happen, but he was expecting that already.

_It´s just as I thought.. there is no reason to return time in this world, so it´s not working anymore._

He tried to twist the ring also on the opposite side but the outcome didn´t change. Victor frowned a bit - he somehow believed this would give him at least some answer about his current whereabouts.

 

A sudden memory of the fake Yuuri kissing his Soul Gem popped up in his mind. Victor shivered by recalling that special, almost intimate act. It felt as if someone reached inside him to caress his very own soul. His eyes again fell back at his left hand.

Victor slipped the ring off and transformed it in its crystal form. It stayed standing at his large palm, the faint blue light visible behind the gold frame. He had nothing to lose.

Victor leaned down and slightly put his lips on the glass separating his soul from him. It felt cold and for the second he thought nothing is going to happen.

Suddenly he perceived a sharp pain somewhere in his chest; Victor hissed and grasped the crystal firmer. His body felt _pulled_ , the sensation grew bigger and bigger until it was almost unbearable. Victor gritted his teeth with pain, barely able to still keep his eyes open. The air became warmer, almost tickling him at his skin and all that white around him started to blend in clear, dazzling light.

It couldn´t last more than a few seconds.

The pain disappeared instantly as well as the unnatural light. Before Victor could even open up his eyes properly, the shadow of tall silhouette appeared nearby, stepping out from somewhere and already helping him back to his feet. He was invited with shockingly blue eyes locking with his own.

"I´m sorry I made you wait for me.. Vitya."

 

 

Unbelievable as it was, Victor was looking at himself. This him, however, looked different than the image he was used to see every day in the mirror. The man in front of him had a well-build figure and kept appearance. He was wearing what was without a doubt an extremely expensive suit and his hair, long and silver, resembled a waterfall loosely covering his back. It didn´t take him too long to realize that this is really him from before time he and Yuuri had to part ways. Compared to this Victor, the current him wearing a worn-out coat with bags under his eyes and stubble at his chin had to look quite pitiful. Realizing he is still holding his hand, Victor turned away, ashamed.

"I do imagine you must have a lot of questions..but where to begin?" started the other Victor condescendingly, letting him go and pointed to the table and two chairs. Victor wasn´t sure it they were there before, but it wouldn´t surprise him even if he would witness it to materialize from a thin air.

He sat and just now realized he never left that white space. Nevertheless, this time it didn´t look so hostile as before. In fact, he was feeling quiet pleasurable. Well, considering the fact that he just met some other version of himself.

"Do you recognize this place?" asked the second Victor, and Victor could more feel than see his eyes on him. He take a second look but in the end just shook his head, hoping that the other him wouldn´t tease him too much.

"Well.. this is the inside of your Soul Gem. But don´t worry - you are still alive and I am not your enemy. This manifestation you are looking on represents the part of you that was being taken away by the beasts. I was watching you quite for a long time from inside of them. Now, when the body of beast that resembled Yuuri fell apart, I was finally freed and could return back to you."

Victor opened up his mouth quickly but his brain was quicker. It made sense - he honestly wasn´t expecting the beast surviving such a devastation fall. Victor knew he should be feeling at least something now when it is dead, but all he could perceive was just dull emptiness within him. He could just wonder how come _he_ is still alive.

"Was he.. I mean the beast, was it the representation of my magical power?" he finally dared to ask out loud.

"No, I wouldn´t think so. It was just a mere attempt of me manipulating one of them. However, it didn´t end up as I was expecting.. I am sorry you had to be tortured like that."

Victor just nodded reflexively. He too didn´t want to return to it. However, there were still a lot of unanswered questions within him.

"I can literally hear your thoughts," smiled the other Victor on him, his clear eyes almost shining in his face. "I wanted to explain one more thing, if that´s okay with you."

He threw a questioning look at Victor, who again nodded in agreement.

"You may have noticed it already, but there are two types of magic in your Soul Gem: the time manipulation and the memory manipulation. I know you´ve been wondering about the second one since it´s relatively new. Do you remember when you acquired that power?"

"No," frowned Victor.

"Let me show you, then."

The other Victor reached out his hand to him and gave him an encouraging smile.

Victor extended his arm too and his fingers entwined with the familiar sensation. The second Victor winked and vanished instantly, leaving Victor´s hand suddenly empty.

 

_Vitya? I am right here. It will be more comfortable like this._

Victor winced, his eyes jumping to the side since the voice was talking right to his ear, but nobody was standing there.

_You are such a crybaby._

He could literally hear the sigh.

_Stop looking around and focus. Okay?_

Victor couldn´t even try to defend himself when the white started to vanish. The emptiness was gradually replaced by a colorful mosaic and Victor suddenly realized he is in fact _floating_ in the air. The patterns around him kept changing instantly and he was sure this isn´t the first time he saw something like this.

_I was here before.._

Two figures appeared somewhere in the distance, embracing each other. Even without any words Victor knew what was going on. Those were his most painful memories, hidden in the deepest place of his soul. Before he knew it, his eyes already became watery.

_You are right. This is the place where you left a part of yourself.. although you probably weren´t aware of it that time._

"Why.. why are you showing me this?" asked Victor and hated how his voice trembled on syllables.

_There is a good reason behind that. Let me explain it in detail. Just a moment after this, the laws of universe were rewritten according Yuuri´s wish. Naturally, you were supposed to lost all of your memories, just like everybody else.. but that didn´t happen. And the solution lies right here, in front of our eyes._

The image zoomed in and Victor could now see every detail of the face he loved the most. It was Yuuri, his beloved Yuuri; his eyes sparkling and hair floating around in shining halo.

_Yuuri.. I´m so sorry. To modify my memories to the point I ever doubted your very existence.. I´m the worst. This won´t happen ever again, I swear._

Victor wiped away the tears pushing from his eyes and had to use all his strength not to reach out his hands to touch him, even knowing this is just an image from his own memory.

Yuuri in front of him started moving again; his eyes looking at his own past self, the voice loud and clear.

"It´s possible that you will remember me even if you return, Vitya. I believe in it, so you should too! After all, witch hunters are the one that can use magic to make their wish come true. It may be a small chance, but who knows - maybe the miracle will happen once again!"

Victor couldn´t keep his composure anymore. He reached out and his fingers went through the image with a strange smooth sensation.

 _It´s only a memory now, Vitya,_ again resonated the voice in his head. _You can´t interfere with it. But it´s also the answer you have been looking for. Yuuri himself had said it - a true miracle happened. In other words, you and Yuuri transcended the laws of the world. Both of you held a strong relationship between each other, mutual feelings that you refused to abandon. The desire was so strong that it gave birth to a new Soul Gem that was passed down to you, Victor. That was how you gained your new powers. Currently, you are probably the only hunter in the world to whom were granted **two** miracles._

The picture in front of him slowly started to fade until he was greeted with familiar picture – two chairs separated with a table. Without thinking, he quickly pulled one of them closer and sat since seeing Yuuri fading away made his knees weak again. The second Victor materialized and took a seat too.

"This wish wasn´t bind to any contract, but without Kyuubey to perform the act properly your new magic remained an incomplete one. It settled in your original Soul Gem and after some time started to interfere with your primary time-manipulation magic. However, your original magic was lost shortly after you reappeared in this new world. And during that unfortunate beasts incident you lost also your summoning magic. But I guess - and I am probably right - that there is one important thing you are missing from that particular night. You saw something you shouldn´t be able to see."

Victor caught himself sitting almost at the edge of the chair, eager for revelation. He was now positive he himself had rewritten his memories. What on world must he saw that he reacted that way?

 

"Come with me, please." The other Victor stood up and waited for Victor to join him.

"Where are we going?" he asked, puzzled. He was somehow awaiting direct answer but it seems this Victor liked to do things his own way.

"Further in your Soul Gem. It would be better for you to see it on your own eyes."

 

The second Victor led him through several tunnels and alleys and Victor could just wonder how vast this space is. Finally, they reached something that resembled a giant pit. The other Victor pointed out in the deep and stepped away so he could take a look.

Victor´s sight fell in the dark. He couldn´t see much at first, but his eyes quickly adapted and soon the void started to gain a familiar shapes. Suddenly he spotted a giant, almost mountain-like body while the rest reminded small, put of the top of all that. When the creature tilted its head back, Victor hissed from surprise and immediately retreated. He would recognize this even lying on the death bed.

"That´s-" he was looking in vain for words, "that is a _witch_! Directly here, in the Soul Gem! But.. how? Why? They weren´t supposed to exit anymore.. what about Yuuri´s wish?"

His sight kept falling back to the pit; the witch was scaring him to the bone and at the same time he felt sickly attracted to it.

"See?" asked him the second Victor as if he was predicting it. "Now you know what you saw that other night through the tunnel. When Giant Beast took Yuuri´s string, your Soul Gem got to the verge of collapsing. In such state it is very easy to sink deeper to yourself. Balancing on the string of fainting, your mind dived in your heart and you spotted what you weren´t supposed to see - Yuuri´s witch form. And wherever a witch exists, Yuuri is bound to be as well. Of course such a realization had to shake your world from the basis. To protect your sanity, your body decided for itself and your memories were rewritten instantly even without you noticing it. Naturally, in such state you became an easy prey to the beasts who had taken away part of your magic directly from the source - your Soul Gem."

Victor remained speechless - to even think all this was happening behind his back.. His blown-wide eyes probably encouraged the other Victor to continue speaking.

"At that time I was already there, present between them and saw everything that had followed. You came from the universe where witches were able to manifest themselves using human negative emotions. The curses inside your Soul Gem were of course unknown to the beasts and instead of utilizing it, they started to get affected from them and change. And that brings us in presence. Since this-"

Victor snapped his fingers and the white was instantly replaced with an image of grotesque creature possessing myriad of tentacles, "this is not a witch! It´s the Giant Beast you have been looking for completely surrounded to the curses. Right now, no beast was left to serve its original purpose and needless to say, this _thing_ has a potential to easily destroy the world as we now know it."

Victor almost froze to the chair after hearing those words.

_Destroy? The world Yuuri sacrificed himself for? No way.._

"Then," he started loudly and stood up, "why I am here? Shouldn´t we more worry about what is going on right now?"

"That depends."

The second Victor nictated at him from under his beautiful hair falling softly in his face.

"I wouldn´t say you are mortally wounded, but it sure wouldn´t be a pleasant waking up. Besides, do you have any plan?"

_Plan?_

"Hm," he started, his thoughts unwinding rapidly. "It´s not all detailed-up, but if by any chance you would return me my powers.. I mean, if the ring would be working again, I can just rewind time before all of this happens, right?"

"Maybe," declared Victor in front of him, still sitting on the chair, eyeing at him. "But do you really don´t care about whether is it defeated? The Giant Beast, I mean. There is no guarantee you will get your time-manipulation magic back.. moreover, it could get also worse. The beasts already messed up with your magic before - who know what could happen. I guess what I probably want to make clear is that you should prepare yourself also on the possibility of negative outcome."

Victor kept standing, adrenaline rush from a minute before slowly withering away from his veins.

"I-," he started but then realize he had no answer to offer. Everything he had just learned was so _new_ to him. Especially the part about miracles. He has been already granted two wishes and it seemed his power was big and mysterious enough to enable even _more_. But wasn´t it just his mind playing games with him? The pure thought about carrying a power that could enable him to reach Yuuri gave him goose bumps. It was just too much. It seemed to him as if someone put humanity well-being on one side of the scales and his own on the second one. And he was supposed to be a judge - whatever he would pick, the second will be sooner or later doomed to die.

_Yuuri.. what should I do?_

 

"Well?" asked the second Victor, his blue eyes scanning him from his head to the toes. "Have you decided already?"

 

Victor´s eyes were pointing to the ground, his head leaned down.

"Yes," he heard himself saying.

 

"Oh? And which one will it be?"

Victor almost felt his lips widen in hopeless smile.

 

After all, the answer was lying within his heart since the very beginning.

"I won´t meet him. Not until I fulfil what I am supposed to do here."

"Why?" frowned the other him.

"Because I need to stay true to my wish. And you know very well what it was."

Victor´s eyes found his confused mirror image and locked with them.

"My wish was to protect Yuuri Katsuki. And that is exactly what I intend to do."


	9. Open Your Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter!

Victor was looking firmly into the crystal-blue eyes, so similar to his own.

"My wish was to protect Yuuri Katsuki. And that is exactly what I intend to do."

The second Victor didn´t answer, just kept the eye contact.

"Whether I obtain my power back or I will have to lose something again doesn´t matter to me anymore. This is the world he gave his _life_ for to protect. There is no way I would let anything to destroy it."

Victor finally straightened his back and circled around the table. He stopped in a distance of touch from his copy and leaned with his bottom at the edge of the table.

"Everything you said before was right. I tried and tried again to run away from the loneliness. Sometimes it hurt so much I almost felt splitting in two would be more merciful. I mean.. he was _so_ precious to me. Yuuri is the person I cherish the most in the world. And yet, I doubted about him and got innocent people involved. In this case.. it would be foolish to hope that if we ever meet again, he would shower me with his smile. And that´s why I have decided like that. So we could meet someday without any regrets and just be happy seeing each other once more."

Victor detached from the table and stood up straight again, this time transforming his ring to the Soul Gem. The crystal was shining softly, illuminating his palm.

"I´ll give up my time-manipulation magic. If this is the power that could eventually lead to harming this world, I can´t use it again. The risk is too big. And those are my honest and true feelings."

Victor leaned in and reached out his hand to touch his other half sitting nearby. The second Victor stood up, took it and firmly entwined his fingers with him, his warmth almost soaking to Victor´s skin.

"Now when you know my true intentions, I ask you to return my power back to me. But this time, instead of a shield that protects Yuuri I shall be the weapon that smites everyone who dares to threaten him!"

Victor felt the grip on his hand got stronger and his missing part gave him a small, but triumphal smile. He nodded and leaned closer to him, entangling his fingers in his hair. Reflexively, Victor leaned in to the touch, feeling something soft brushing against his lips; but before he could even react, the space around him started to change. Dazzling white light filled out the room and the second Victor vanished without even leaving a shadow. All Victor was able to sense was a fresh breeze on his face and emptiness of his palm. Something resembling a chuckle echoed in the space around him and he could distinguish his own voice whispering him in the ears.

"As you wish. And now, open your eyes, Victor."

\--

Victor woke up in some narrow and dark space, his body covered in dust.

_Ouch.._

He gritted his teeth from a pain; life slowly returning to his veins. His muscles were pinching from lying in uncomfortable position, limbs spread out wide while his torso was touching the cold ground. He coughed and hissed at the sudden pain somewhere between his shoulder blades. Slowly, he leaned onto his elbows, noticing a bloody sleeve. He obviously obtained some injuries; but considering the fact he just jumped down from the roof, being alive could still be counted a miracle. Slowly, but surely Victor crawled from under the billets while his eyes were already examining the situation.

Apparently he was out for quite a moment. The Giant Beast was still demolishing the city although there really wasn´t much left of it at this point of the time. Looking left or right there was no single alive person left - except of him. He remained the last one, as always.

Victor finally stood up straight and brushed away his hair out of his face.

_Open your eyes._

He understood what the other Victor wanted to say.

The time has come to stop living in a dream and accept the reality as it was. Crazy, lonely, even unbearable sometimes. But there was no other option. After all, the only person he keeps hurting is himself.

Victor took a breath, closed his eyes and clapped his hands. Feeling again the familiar warmth right under his skin made his lips widen in smile.

_Finally._

Victor Nikiforov came back to end this charade already.

 

The group of beasts appearing before him didn´t even stood a chance. He opened up his eyes and grasped the rifle, his finger already on the trigger. After another couple of seconds nothing remained from them except of five black triangles hitting the ground with a loud ting. Victor jumped to the left, avoiding the tentacles while killing one beast after another.

_I wonder how I could forget this feeling. My body overflowing with magic and feelings for Yuuri.._

One tentacle slipped just a millimeter away from him.

_Those are my powers helping me killing the beasts!_

Figuratively speaking, Victor kept balancing on the tight trope, putting his life in line for the sake of everyone else. The tentacles always seemed to almost hit him, but a second later he was already elsewhere, his tall silhouette displaying in the pale moonlight. If anybody would be watching the fight he could tell that the man was almost dancing; fighting for his life, always one step further from death. Inch by inch, Victor managed to get closer to the Giant Beast despite its persistent attacks. He already spotted a core, hidden cleverly before unaware eyes. But Victor was a hunter and he had seen many nasty tricks already. In a blitz, he shortened the distance and appeared within the touch of a creature. He reached out his hand with a grenade, finger already on the safety device.

Nothing could prepare him at the sudden, sharp pain exploding somewhere in his insides.

Victor gasped, his eyes reflexively searching for the source from where it was coming from. His pupils dilated when he spotted a four metal rods stabbed right through his torso; sticking out from his stomach and ribs in sick angles. Victor felt a gall rise in his throat immediately and had to avert his sight. He didn´t even have time to think about what has happened - the pain was overwhelming, burning holes in his whole body. His hands clutched unwittingly and only then Victor realized he is still holding a grenade. One bad move and this could end up very, very bad.

_Fuck! So close to the core and this happens?!_

Victor was well aware he was running out of time; moreover, those disgusting tentacles kept approaching him like a spider slanting up his prey. He closed his eyes and despite his suffering, he at least tried to move closer.

_I-have to-_

With his teeth clenched and eyes almost closed, Victor reached out more to get closer, trying to hold the grenade in his sweaty palm. Even without looking he felt something approaching to him, probably another beast or two. He could say that much as a hunter.

_Just a little closer-_

Like a mad man, Victor let out a loud scream. The situation seemed hopeless - he remained the last one. It´s either him, or that crazy beast thing - and he couldn´t allow the second possibility to change into reality. No one will come to help him, no one will switch place with him. He _had_ to do it.

Breathing out, Victor tore off the safety lever and threw the grenade directly at the Giant Beast. It was basically a death sentence but he run of all other options. Desperate enough to reconcile with his fate already, he just hoped it wouldn´t last long since the pain started to be unbearable. Those couple seconds between the explosion and his inevitable death seemed now endless to him.

_I must say I am very proud at you, Vitya._

 

Victor gasped since he knew _that_ voice; but he just couldn´t believe it. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine-

“Yuuri..”, he breathed out, forcing himself to open up his eyes.

_Your Soul Gem is on the brink of collapsing. But even though it hurt – and I know it did – you did your best till the very end._

Half-blind, Victor nictated in the light but the only thing he was able to distinguish was a blurry silhouette vaguely reminding a human. The sounds from the outside got silenced and he was able to perceive only warm, peaceful quite.

_I am so sorry to leave you right after we were able to meet again, but there is a reason for it, love. Your time hasn´t come yet. But I will help you out a bit._

Victor couldn´t even formulate his thoughts properly. This time he wasn´t imagining it – Yuuri is _here_ , still present in this world and returned for him. Hot tears were running down his cheeks as he remained immovable; the immense, infinite white reflecting in his blown wide pupils.

The silhouette in front of him moved; he managed to even catch a glimpse of chocolate eyes and genuine, heartwarming smile.

_And remember I will always love you._

Someone reached out for his arm but Victor´s body was stiffen and refused to move.

_Yuuri, don´t go- I love you too, I always will-_

He was completely unprepared when world around him suddenly exploded in dazzling, soft light.

\--

_Yuuri? I wonder who that it. It sounds cute._

 

Victor breathed in abruptly, cold night air rushing down his lungs.

“Lay still, Victor. I´m healing you,” echoed a voice somewhere above him.

 

Slowly, very slowly Victor opened up his eyes.

At first, he spotted Phichit, kneeling above his torso; his hands were glowing with golden light while his wounds kept closing and muscles repairing. It wasn´t exactly painless but it was definitely better than what he had to endure so far.

“You okay, old man?”

Thin face with a big, emerald eyes appeared in his view. Blond strains were tickling him on his cheeks.

“I´m okay.. Yuri,” he finally managed to push out of himself and even gave him a small, reassuring nod. The boy stepped away, relief mirroring on his face.

“Okay, it´s done,” Phichit stood up too, brushing away the dust from his trousers. “However, I recommend you to avoid physical exertion for next couple days. It´s only in your own interest to do so, Victor.”

Victor nodded and with a surprise noticed a helping hand, almost shoved in his face. Startled, he looked up and spotted Otabek. The Kazakh was looking at him with a strange mix of suspicion and expectation but nevertheless kept his hand in Victor´s reach. Victor took it and slowly managed to stand up at his own feet, noticing three pairs of eyes staring at him.

“Thank you.. everyone,” he mumbled, still unsure about what has just happened.

“You´ve been talking while Phichit was treating you,” declared Otabek, throwing a look at him. “In fact, it was more like you were calling for somebody.”

“Yuuri,” blurted out of Victor.

“Yuuri? Who´s that?” asked Yuri with confused tone and Phichit narrowed his eyes, too.

“Yuuri is-he is..”

Victor´s voice went quiet and his eyes darted in the ground.

“Leave him be, Yuri. It looks like he needs a while for himself.. to organize his thoughts," Phichit called out and both Yuri and Otabek turned to him and went to join his side. “Now, about our next strategy against the Giant Beast..”

Their voices trailed away as Victor was left alone with his thoughts.

 

_Yuuri.. I met him once again.. I still somehow can´t believe it._

He wasn´t sure what exactly has happened, but the most logical answer arising in his mind was time-manipulation.

That was by far the only reasonable explanation of Yuri, Phichit and Otabek being alive again together with the Giant Beast. Yuuri must have rewind the time before the point when he got attacked; what later led to beasts being unwittingly affected by his own magic. For God-like entity like him it probably had to be just a child play.

Victor twisted his ring, but as expected nothing happened. He definitely lost it - his time-manipulation magic, the consequence of his original wish uttered over Yuuri´s dead body. Victor´s fingers flew in his hair, finding the comforting touch of a fabric. The string was still there as if it has never been taken away from him. He unwrapped it, spreading the fabric at his palm, caressing it between his fingers as if it was Yuuri himself.

Victor sighed and lifted up his sight at the sky; it was full moon. How many times had he been through this, looking in the night while listening to the three bickering hunters in the background? It really seemed like nothing has changed at all.

_Your time hasn´t come yet._

Yuuri´s voice kept echoing inside his head, calm and satisfying.

Reluctantly, Victor unglued his eyes from the sky.

_It looks like we won´t be seeing each other for another while, Yuuri. But I guess I´m finally okay with that. You see, I choose to believe, Yuuri. To believe that if I wish strong enough, then no matter what the miracle – I will make it happen. Maybe sooner, maybe later.. but surely, someday you will come for me._

He parted a thin string of his hair from the rest and wrapped the fabric again around it, firmly binding the knot.

Somewhere in the distance, the tower clock started to announce the midnight. At the sudden sound other hunters turned back at him and Phichit waved his hand to join them.

"The scent is particularly thick tonight. I propose we start with district 8 and then continue with 9 and 10."

Victor nodded reflexively, his sight moving on his Soul Gem. The crystal was again shining with blue light, illuminating his tall, lean figure.

He gave one more look at the moon and stepped towards the group.

_Lend me your strength, Yuuri._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! The story ends here. There is a small epilogue though, which could eventually one day lead to Rebellion. However I am not a big fan of this movie since I dislike the ending :/  
> In case you like my storytelling and setting, you might be interested in one-shot I wrote earlier, "Phichit and Yuri - the Different Story". It covers couple chapters from PMMM Different story manga. Also, I recently wrote a small drabble "Midnight Hour" covering the infamous "metro scene" from episode 8 of Madoka. Otabek is presenting Sayaka, just like in my other fics. You can find them both in my profile.  
> Anyway, thank you for reading. If you have any thoughts I will be happy to read them :)


	10. Epilogue

None of the hunters noticed a small, white-furred animal peeping from behind the nearby bench. Only after Phichit called after him, Kyuubey slipped away from the grass and started running in their direction.

_It looks like no one else remembers what just happened. That makes me the only one, I guess. How fitting._

The pawns were digging in the soft ground while the furry tail kept bobbing alongside the creature.

_It looks like Victor Nikiforov was right, after all. Just as I expected it to be, time-manipulation is really amazing power. Now all that is left it to wait for the time when his Soul Gem starts to fill with curses. That will attract the Law of Cycles - no, I recall calling it by another name. Yuuri Katsuki - to take a possession of such precious source of energy.. Certainly, he would be eager to cooperate with us when it happens._

Kyuubey jumped into Phichit´s open arms, quickly tearing away his sight from the silver hair covering a hunter´s face. His pink, dark shining eyes got easily lost in the kaleidoscope of colors arising from Soul Gems around him.

_After all, it ´s all for the sake of the universe! Don´t you agree, Victor?_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. If you liked the story so far, you can hit the kudos button. Feel free to write me a comment anytime.


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